Return To Edo
by xXFindingForeverXx
Summary: He had loved her, he had hated her, and in the end he had killed her. But he promised himself one day... he would have her again and then they could both Return To Edo together.
1. The Love You Let Die

**A/N: So this just came to me after watching the Rurouni Kenshin OVA, which is extremely sad. The anime was really sugarcoating all the tension and sadness. Anyway, it was good and I cried some and then inspiration hit me as I was blowing my nose. I hope you all enjoy this, I hope to make it an on going story, not like Lotus Flower Bomb with is an assortment of related one shots.**

**Here goes nothing!**

**-(Perhaps one day my love will return where the sea is close)-**

Summary: She was bred to wed him, to love him, and take care of him but he never wanted her. At least, that's what he told himself.

Return to Edo

By xXFindingForeverXx

**(July 1****st****, 1778. Whitehall Manor, Wales)**

"Hermione, what are you still doing here?" Narcissa asked, shocked to see her soon to be daughter-in-law sitting in the lounge outside her son's study.

Hermione looked up from where her eyes had been trained on the ground, the exact spot Draco had stood before her almost seven hours ago.

"He told me to. He said… if I wanted him to love me I had better stay here and listen to it," Hermione explained, her eyes full of a dullness one could only get from having been broken too early in life.

"Oh my goodness, has he been in there with some slag this whole time?" Narcissa questioned the brunette, disbelief riddled her features. How could her loving, wonderful son turn out to be so cruel?

"Pansy Parkinson," Hermione stated back simply, bowing her head again. Months ago she would have been bawling after the first minute and ran off. Now, now she didn't even hear anything beyond the songs she sang to herself in her head. The moans and groans hadn't affected her in the least.

"That chav… I swear. I'll straighten him out. You can go home," Narcissa said gently, feeling sorry for the young girl set to marry her son.

"If it's all the same to you, Mother, I'll just sit here. It's comfortable," Hermione softly answered back. Really, she just didn't want to go home. Not when it was so full of noise from all her siblings. Odd how out of all the redheads her father and mother had spawned she was the only brunette.

"Dearest… I know, I'll have Dobby prepare a room for you. A nice quiet one, how's that sound?" the older woman asked, but it wasn't really a question. She was going to do it regardless of what Hermione said.

"Alright, Mother," Hermione agreed with a small smile. It was fake, it had been for months. She followed the house elf that appeared before them with that same small smile. It was the smile of someone who had just made up their mind.

**-(One day I'd like my love to return to that place so close to the sea)-**

She was probably still out there. She hadn't run away since that first time. No… in this battle of wills she was winning but at a price. Her sanity was slipping; her resolve to be the woman he had known all those years ago was almost gone. She was so complacent now.

"And you've done it to her," he murmured to himself. He was a killer. Just like he had killed that bird she had loved so long ago, now he was killing her too. Soon enough there would be nothing left of Hermione Weasley but a hollow shell.

And what scared him was how satisfying it all was. Years ago he had loved her so deeply it had hurt to see her in the company of any other man, even her brothers. But even then he had known she would always be his. But things had changed that faithful night.

"_It's different for us… not like Harry and Ginny. They love each other. We… were forced into this. It just doesn't feel right. I wish I could have been romanced like Harry did Ginny."_

Those were the words. He had repeated them over and over since that day. He had begun to hate her more and more each passing hour. She had thrown his devotion right back in his face.

"Serves her right," he muttered as he looked at the sleeping girl next to him. She was a good enough lay. The best was that she was always up for a go.

"Draco Malfoy, how could you have done that to that poor girl?" Narcissa shouted as she barged into the room. Pansy shot up and ran to his private lavatory and Draco just shrugged.

"She enjoyed it, mother," he assured snidely. He knew who she was talking about… that little bitch had his mother's sympathy but not his. And he was the one who mattered.

"Hermione, you twit. She's hurting and you're the one doing it. What grievous wrong has she committed that has to be punished like this?" the blond woman asked, her tone and face showed her disgust.

"She threw something that should have been precious to her away," Draco responded coldly.

"I don't understand but whatever it was couldn't have been that big of a deal. Draco that girl loves you… loved you like there was nothing else in her world that mattered and you threw it back in her face!" Narcissa shouted. How could he be so blind?

"No, mother, you've got it wrong, she was the one who threw away my heart!" Draco screamed back.

"What? She always talked about loving you and up until a few months ago I thought you returned her feelings. Even at lunch today she could hardly stop mentioning you… Whatever you thought she was doing, Draco you've got it all wrong," she murmured, willing her son to finally see the errors of his ways.

"What? I thought… she said… where is she now?" Draco asked, pulling his pants on. Could it be that he had misunderstood her feelings the whole time? That he had done this to her thinking she didn't love him when she had just loved him in secrecy?

"Dobby prepared her a room… next to yours."

Draco nodded and rushed at once to where he knew she would be. He had so much apologizing to do. So much to make up for and he would. Until the day he died, he would make up for breaking her spirit like that. He would love her ten times more if she would just find it in her heart to forgive him.

**(That place so close to me. Hello new Tokyo!)**

He found her with her wrists cut clean open. There was so much blood he could barely make out exactly where it was all coming from at first. She was laying in her favorite forest green sheets, the ones he had bought her the first night she had stayed over. It was soaked in blood now.

The dress she wore had also been a favorite. It was a kimono they had picked up when his father had let them tag along on one of his business trips to Edo. It was red with gold lily patterns on it. The obi was a jade color and she had loved the contrast. She said it reminded her of Christmas and Spring at the same time.

Her skin was so pale… like a little porcelain doll, like the one he had broken the first time they had ever met. It had been her favorite and she had cried so hard when it had shattered into a million pieces. He had made Blaise help him try to put it back together. They failed miserably but she had smiled and laughed as they struggled. He fell in love with her that exact moment.

Her freckles were sprinkled over her skin so delicately it looked like he could blow them off with just a wisp of breath. He remembered the time they had tried counting them all. They kept losing tract of the number until they finally gave up and took a nap. He awoke later and counted them all by himself. Thirty-seven. He had kept that to himself for all those year and now he really wished he had told her. She deserved to know.

"Hermione, love?" he questioned in a pleading voice. He stepped closer to her and touched the soft wild curls she carried. She looked so peaceful.

"I'm sorry… so, so, sorry. I wish I could wake you up… We were supposed to go to Edo for our honeymoon. I planned it all out. We were going to return to that little dressmaker shop where you got that kimono you loved… and… and we… I knew how much you wanted to," he murmured between sobs," I knew how you wanted to return to Edo."

He took in a shaking breath and laid beside her before wrapping her in his arms. "I'm sorry… I didn't understand. I wish I had understood. I could have romanced you. We could have been so happy if I had just… Hermione, I'm sorry," he tried to explain, but what was the point? She was far past gone. He held her gently in his arms and kissed her forehead with his eyes closed. If he opened them he knew the tears would only come and blur his vision anyway.

They found them the next morning like that. Her pale as a white sheet and dead as a rock, him shaking like a branch in the wind and crying like a widow at her husband's funeral.

**-(Let's return, my love. To the old Edo. Let's go there once again)-**

**A/N**: **So that's the first chapter. By the way for people who don't know Edo is the old name of Tokyo. During the Meiji Era Tokyo was referred to as Edo which was Emperor Meiji's capital city. It's remained the capital city but the name has obviously changed.**

**By the way, Japanese history is really interesting (history in general is the coolest) and you guys should totally look into some stuff. Plus I really love historical dramas and I was thinking of maybe doing one so if you've got an era you'd like to suggest leave in in your review and I'll look into it! Try to be original, everyone does knights and such; let's try something else for a change.**


	2. The Squawking Canary

**A/N: guys. So here's chapter two. I promise, if you get confused at any point all questions will be answered eventually. But if you really can't wait, leave your question in a review and I'll try my hardest to answer you, unless it gives away the plot. Then you'll just have to stick it out. **

**By the way this chapter is inspired by the show Misfits which had nothing to do with anything said here, actually. The idea just came to me as I was watching an episode from season two. It was when Nathan was turned gay… just hilarious. He started playing Careless Whisper by George Michael, when he was trying to seduce Simon (Who's my favorite character, right before Alisha.) Anyway, that song helped inspire me too. **

**And then I was searching up the guy who plays Simon, Iwan Rheon because I'm a stalker, and I found out he's a singer and I love his songs Falling and Changing Times which also helped me to write this chapter. **

**Enough talk now, I hope you all like this chapter and you should totally watch the show Misfits. It's soooooo sexy, I just love it!**

**(All it ever did was squawk, he didn't know what to do.)**

Return to Edo

By xXFindingForeverXx

**(April 17****th****. Oriental Express Way Station, Istanbol)**

"Next! Please state your name, citizenship status, and age!" the older woman behind the clear glass ordered. Her hair was a mass of curly, rough tendrils. Her olive skin looked sweaty, like she was feverish, which would explain the glassy look of her dark eyes. Hermione nodded her head and stepped up from her place in the front of the line.

"Hermione E. L. Granger," she began only to be cut off by the black haired stranger.

"What's the E and L stand for? I bet it's something like Elenora… you look like an Elenora. And the L, let me guess, is it for Lagistor?" the woman asked, her lips curved in a bit of a crazed sneer. Hermione just smiled back gently and shook her head.

"The E is for Eden and the L is for Linore. My full name is Hermione Eden Linore Granger," Hermione responded, patiently. She had been through this process many times before. Even in the woman's manners were horrible they were a far cry better than that other woman who had worked the booth to the oriental express before her. Something Umbridge. She had been a foul woman with a fouler mouth and temper to boot.

"Linore should have been your first name. Hermione sounds right for an old lady," The woman commented as she began to type of her type writer.

"One day I'll be an old lady and it'll fit. What's your name, by the way?" Hermione asked back pleasantly.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," the black haired woman muttered back.

"Ah. Isn't that an odd name too?" Hermione countered.

"Not at all, it's French," Bellatrix responded hotly. Hermione chuckled at this and just nodded her head. "What's the rest of your information?"

"I have dual citizenship, Japan and England. And I'm twenty three years old," Hermione answered with a smile. The woman reminded her of child. A slightly off child, but a child nonetheless.

"Here's your ticket then. Step to the gate and hand it to that tall man with the brown hair. Rodolphus, he's the one standing next to that sleeping fool down there, Rabastan," Bellatrix said, her voice dripping like sickly sweet honey. Hermione blinked and nodded her head, confused as to the change in the older woman's mood. Perhaps she had angered her… or she was sweet on that man. Rodolphus?

"Alright, thank you. Have a nice afternoon," Hermione quickly stated before walking in the direction Bellatrix had pointed. She was ready to be out of this train station already, and despite her rather short conversation with the woman, it had left a bad taste in her mouth. Next time, if she got stuck with the black haired woman, she'd just let whoever was behind her go first.

"Ah, what a beauty you are," Rodolphus murmured sweetly to her as he took her ticket. He kicked his brother in the rips before turning his attention back to her. "Are you… taken?"

Hermione blushed and just coughed in return, she couldn't believe this man was hitting on her like this. "I… um… what?" she answered back.

Rodolphus offered her a grin and a wink. "I'm taken by that sexy loon over there," he said pointing in the direction of Bellatrix," but this fine, strapping young man by my side is free as a bird and looking. He's good in the kitchen and if he's anything like me, good in the sack too."

Hermione's blushed just intensified as she averted her eyes away from Rabastan who was staring at her wide eyed and then proceeded to punch his brother.

"I'm sorry… he's always trying to pawn me off," Rabastan murmured back discreetly.

"That's because it's getting crowded at our home. Please, please, take him with you! I'll pay you!" Rodolphus joked and Hermione just smiled and shook her head.

"Sorry, by do you think you lot could stop with the antics and just take the lady's ticket and give her back the stub. If she's like the rest of us, she's got better things to do than to hang around two buffoons like you," a new voice broke in behind her. Hermione turned and faced this new stranger with a bit of appreciation.

He was rather tall, six feet something, though he could have been a giant for all it was worth standing next to her five foot three inches. His eyes were like steel, which meant his eyes were supposed to just be a hybrid between hazel and blue. She had read somewhere that grey eyes didn't really exist and were usually just a trick of the light which would have made sense but whoever had done the study hadn't met this man. With his molten, liquid eyes and his platinum blond hair.

Rodolphus narrowed his eyes at the stranger but just did as he was told and gave her a crooked smile as she made to leave. She nodded in return before continuing on her journey to find the right train. It was number nine to Edo . After finding it and choosing a compartment she settled herself in, grabbing a book for her long ride.

Her friends swore up and down that she was crazy for always traveling by train whenever she went anywhere but she didn't really mind it. She had made a lot of those same friends on those same trains they bashed. While the rest of the world chose steam boats and steam-shuttle cars for travel she preferred the old reliable train system. One never had to worry about hills or storms in a train.

The door to her compartment flew open and she nearly jumped out of her skin when her eyes met the gaze of the blond haired man from earlier.

"Uh… sorry mam, I'll find somewhere else to sit," he murmured and began to shut the door.

"That's alright, you can sit in here. I'm not expecting any company," Hermione said softly. The man nodded his thanks and brought his two carry-ons in the moderate sized compartment. He placed his bags in the storage shelves above the seats before sitting on the bench across from her.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. You are?" he asked with his hand extended. She reached out and shook it with a coy smile.

"Granger, Hermione Granger and it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." She shot him a disarming smile that made him catch his breath.

"The pleasure is mine. What's your business in Edo, if I'm not being to forward?" he asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Huh? Oh, no it's not to forward at all. I'm going because my close friend has requested my presence help him oversee his new business venture. A little dress shop in the Shinjuku Ichigaya area, near the Ministry of Defense. And the back will all be for my inventions," Hermione answered back sweetly. Her eyes twinkled as she explained to him exactly what it was she was working on inventing.

"I like to call myself a tinkerer. It has a better sound to it then inventor. And still, when I mention in the presence of certain men that I, a woman, have mind enough to create things well… some don't take to kindly to me having a mind of my own. I work with new ways of creating energy, trying to improve it and create things that the common man and woman can use. Everything creates such smog, like this train, but steam burns clean and only releases two things. Energy and water vapor. Right now, I'm working on something that'll burn clean like that but be more effective. It's hard work but it's satisfying."

Draco just gave her a small smirk, he had no real interest in steam power or new sources of energy, but when she talked she was just so animated, he couldn't help but pay close attention to everything she said.

"I've created a thing called a Snitch. It's a little ball that has these metallic wings and flies around. Children love it. It'll only stop when you click the wings back into place and it'll only start up again when you click them out again. It's an effective way to entertain children and you can program it to just buzz around one area so it's safe to say the child won't wonder off. And… you don't care do you. I'm sorry I kinda… get really into talking about my work," Hermione said, her face red as a tomato and downcast.

"No. It's alright. Actually, I enjoyed it. You're a very spirited person. Most people don't bother talking to me about anything but business… and women usually only have one topic in mind when we talk," Draco murmured back, it was his turn to blush now.

"And what topic is that?" Hermione asked with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Marriage."

**(And he couldn't take it. All the Squawking was terrible. So he snapped its neck.)**

Five hours later and the train was just pulling into the Shinjuku station. Hermione had to admit, she had a really good time talking to Draco. Her book had been left unread the whole time. They had shared childhood stories and not so childhood stories, she remembered with a slight blush. He had shared about his first awkward sexual experience and she had shared about how she had walked in on her first boyfriend with her cousin Edgar. It had been an awkward but amusing moment. Especially when she had been trying to breakup with him in the first place.

They had talked about everything and anything, not a moment had been wasted between the two of them. She had showed him the Snitch and he had enjoyed it almost as much as the children who used to frequent her little shop in lower London.

He had showed her his work too, none of which had made much sense to her. He was a banker and they both laughed as she confessed to being completely confused. All in all it had been a fun time but now they would have to part ways.

It really was a bit sad. They exchanged information and hopefully they'd keep in touch but he seemed like a busy man and she was a woman who often lost track of time so it could be months between correspondence.

"Well I guess this is goodbye, huh?" she asked, as she fixed the skirt of her black Victorian style dress, her high riding boots just peeking out from the bottom. He was fixing the coat of his olive green suit which went rather well with his pale skin and brown shoes. He was just all around dashing, and if she hadn't of just met him she would have been one of those women he had talked about earlier… asking for marriage and children and a huge house.

"Maybe we can get together for lunch tomorrow?" Draco offered her his hand as they stepped from the train.

"Where?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Do you know of Ichimaru's? It's a small noodle shop but the food is delicious."

"I have. I frequented it a lot when I spent my younger years here. Tomorrow at noon then? I'll see you then," Hermione said with a wide smile which Draco returned in his own fashion.

"Hermione!" her best friend, and brother figure, Harry Potter called out to her as he came running towards her with his red head wife in tow.

"I'm guessing they're here for you," Draco joked.

"Ah yes… well I'll see you tomorrow. Have a nice night, Mr. Malfoy."

"And you, Ms. Granger, " Draco said as he turned in the direction of the exit. He spotted the black car he knew his friend had send to meet him. After offering the driver a nod he entered the back with a slight smirk as his eyes met that of his best friend and business partner, Blaise Zabini.

"So, how was the train ride?" his dark skinned friend asked as he checked his watch.

"It was eventful. The information was correct," Draco said as he leaned back and relaxed into the leather seats.

"So it was her? She's the one," Blaise asked with new interest.

"It's her. And she looks just as beautiful as I imagined she would be. But more importantly… she'll be able to help us fix _**it**_," Draco concluded. Blaise grinned and handed his longtime friend a tumbler of whiskey.

"This calls for a toast. To the retrieval of Hermione Weas… er… Granger. And to us finally being able to return home," Blaise said with a smile, downing his drink. He didn't notice the dark look in Draco's eyes or the wicked smile that twisted his lips.

**(That was the first time he killed something. But not the last.)**

"She was better looking than I thought she would be," Rabastan murmured as he came to sit at the side of his older brother. Rodolphus nodded his head and grinned slightly which made his wife's smile turn into a deep scowl.

"I didn't like her one bit. I bet she was a brat growing up," Bellatrix responded, downing a shot of vodka as she glared at her husband.

"You were a brat growing up. And you still are, my love," Rodolphus whispered sweetly into her ear which made her blush and smile madly.

"Do you think Vold- er Tom will be pleased with us?" Rabastan asked as he fingered the photo of Hermione he had taken without her knowledge.

"He had better be. We were almost recognized by Bella's brat nephew," Rodolphus growled at the thought of the younger man reprimanding him and his brother.

"Don't talk of Drakie like that. He's doing his job just as we are," Bella murmured, her hand creeping up the front of her husband's trousers.

"Hmm? Oh so then the Dark Lord's got him on some super-secret mission then? I thought he had defected," Rabastan said, looking up at his sibling and his sister-in-law.

"Mhm, the Dark Lord wants him to get her to build something, I think," Bella said between clenched teeth, Rodolphus had pushed her panties to the side and already begun to take her to that happy place she loved so much.

"Rabastan, show your brother how much you love him and help him please his wife," Rodolphus said with a wicked smile. His brother returned his grin and began unzipping his trousers and stepping towards his sister-in-law. She was such a glutton for punishment.

"You know what I like, Bella," he murmured as he released himself from the confines of his pants.

**(And the tears she cried only drove him farther. He was the only thing she was allowed to love.)**

**A/N: So those little words in the parenthesis like the ones above are important too. The last chapter they were to convey Hermione's inner feelings and how she wanted to return to the way things were, and it extended to Draco's true feelings too. And in this chapter, it's about how Draco killed Hermione's pet canary. And for some reason, in all the stories I've written, a canary always dies. Okay, not always, but I've been killing them off a lot lately, especially in some of the darker stuff I'm working on. **

**How'd you like that last bit? The semi incestuous loving, hmm? I know it's a bit weird but just bare with me cause things are only getting more weird and fucked up from here *evil laughter*. **

**So please read and review so all this writing and rambling won't have been written in vain. Also I'm working on another fic too which will probably be out later today or this week, read that too and tell me what you think about it.**

**I'm totally sorry that I forgot to put the date and stuff at the beginning of the chapter! So, so, so, so, so, SO sorry! Also, if you didn't get it, Hermione's been reincarnated. Draco and Blaise… well that remains to be seen.**


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